Disposal of waste material, whether hazardous or non-hazardous, has been a concern for many. In the past, waste material was disposed of by merely dumping the waste material into landfills. However, this disposal of waste material has led to contamination of groundwater by, among others, radionuclides, biological agents, and inorganic and organic chemicals, which in turn have caused chronic illnesses in people and animals, and have destroyed natural resources.
In response to the need to prevent further contamination of the groundwater, the government enacted regulations that aim to protect the environment from such seepage of contaminants from waste material. Thus, the disposal of waste material has become a costly venture, as companies disposing of hazardous or solid waste material must comply with government regulations.
Additionally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) proposed a hierarchy of preferred waste management options. In the hierarchy, waste prevention is the most desirable goal, but when waste cannot be prevented, the EPA recommends that the waste material be recycled. The EPA has stated that the disposal of waste material in landfills, the least desirable alternative, should be avoided if possible.
In response, systems have been developed to recycle waste material. Recycling solid waste material and converting it into or reclaiming valuable products, such as solvents, is beneficial to the environment because it reduces pollution and greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide; reduces the need to extract and process raw materials to manufacture new products; and conserves natural resources. Additionally, recycling is economical—avoiding the costly procedure of waste material disposal.
Conventional systems for recycling waste material are inadequate because they fail to recycle a broad range of solid waste material into beneficial and useful products.
Therefore, what is needed are systems and methods that can recycle solid waste material into beneficial and useful products such as organic solvents, while addressing the deficiencies of the prior art systems.